irregular, but in the suburbs outside the old walls there are many elegant houses. Besides the university, the principal buildings are the provincial Government offices, comprising a portion of the old castle dating from the 12th century, the arsenal, the town-hall, the new gymnasium, and the town church. The university, founded in 1607 by the land-grave Louis Y., has a large and valuable library, a botanic garden, an observatory, an anatomical theatre, an infirlnary, a maternity hospital, a museum of natural history, and a chemical laboratory which was directed by Professor Liebig. The number of professors and teachers of the university in 1875 was 52, and of students 340. There is also a gymnasium and a real school. The industries include the manufacture of woollen and cotton
cloth of various kinds, leather, candles, tobacco, and beer.
Giessen was formed in the 12th century out of the villages Selters, Aster, and Kroppach, for whose protection Count William of Glciberg built the castle of Gicssen. Through marriage the town came into the possession of the palgrave of Titbingen, who sold it in 1265 to the landgravc Henry of Hesse. It was surrounded with fortifications in 1530, which were demolished in 1547 by the emperor Charles \'., but rebuilt in 1560. From 1807 they were gradually pulled down, and their site converted into promenades. The population of Giesscn in 1875 was 13,980.
GIFFORD, William (1757–1826), publicist and man of letters, was born at Ashburton, Devon, in April 1757. Having as a shoemaker’s apprentice manifested a remarkable aptitude for intellectual pursuits, he was by the charity of friends enabled to complete a previously imperfect school education, and ultimately to proceed in his twenty-third year to Oxford, where he was appointed a Bible clerk in Exeter College. Leaving the university shortly after graduation in 1782, he for some years acted as tutor to Lord Belgrave, whom he accompanied on two prolonged Continental tours“ After having settled in London, he in 1794 published his first work, a satirical piece, after Persius, entitled the Brwz'ad, successfully aimed at a numerous school of second-rate writers then popularly known as the Della Cruscans. A second satire of a similar description, the -llcevz'ad, directed against the corruptions of the drama, appeared in 1795. About this time Gifford became acquainted with Canning, with whose help he in August 1 797 originated a weekly newspaper of Conservative politics entitled the .fnli—Jacobin, which, however, in the following year ceased to be published. An English version of J uvenal, on which he had been for many years engaged, appeared in 1802 ; to this an autobiographical notice of the translator was prefixed. Two years afterwards Gifford pub- lished an annotated edition of the plays of Massinger; and in 1809, when the Quarterly Review was projected, he was entrusted with the management of that publication. It is on all hands conceded that the success which attended the Quarterly from the outset was due in no small degree to the ability and tact with which Gifford discharged his editorial duties. His connexion with the Review continued until within about two years of his death, which took place in London on the 31st of December 1826. Besides numerous contributions to the Quarterly during the last fifteen years of his life, he wrote a metrical translation of Persius, which appeared in 1821. Gifford also edited the poems of Ben Jonson, Ford, and Shirley. His edition of the first of these appeared in 1816, those of the other two, posthumously, in 1827 and 1833. The Autobiography was republished in 1827.
GIFT generally means an alienation of property otherwise than for a consideration, although in law it is often used to signify alienation with or without consideration. The effect of a gratuitous gift only need be considered here. Formerly in English law property in land could be conveyed by one person to another by a verbal gift of the estate accompanied by delivery of possession. The Statute of Frauds required all such conveyances to be in writing, and a later statute (8 and 9 Yict. c. 106) requires them to be by deed. Personal property may be effectually transferred from one person to another by a simple verbal gift ace-om— panied by delivery. If A delivers a chattel to I}, saying or signifying that he does so by way of gift, the property passes, and the chattel belongs to B. But unless the actual thing is bodily handed over to the donee, the mere verbal expression of the donor’s desire or intention has no legal effect whatever. The persons are in the position of parties to an agreement which is void, as being without considera- tion. “hen the nature of the thing is such that it cannot be bodily handed over, it will be sufficient to put the dome in such a position as to enable him to deal with it as the, owner. For example, when goods are in a warehouse, the delivery of the key will make a verbal gift of them effectual ; but it seems that part delivery of goods which are capal-le of actual delivery will not validate a verbal gift of the part. undelivered. So when goods are in the possession of a warehouseman, the handing over of a delivery order might, by special custom (but not otherwise it appears), be sufficient to pass the property in the goods, although delivery of a bill of lading for goods at sea is equivalent to an actual delivery of the goods themselves. A donatio mortis causa is a gift made by a person in contemplation of death, to take effect only in the event of his death. It is revocable so long as he lives. There must be actual or constructive delivery of the thing itself, and therefore it has been said that only chattels can be the proper subject of a domain mortis causa, although policies of insurance, bills, notes, &c., have been allowed to pass by mere delivery as death—bed gifts. A donatio mortis causa is not an out-and—out gift, but is conditional on death.
GIJON, a town and seaport of Spain, in the province of Oviedo or Asturias, on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea, about 13 miles E. of the Cabo dc Pefias and 2 miles E. of the Rio Abofio. The older part of the town, partly sur- rounded by its walls, occupies the upper slope of a penin- sular headland, while the more modern portion extends to the beach. On the whole, it is a clean and flourishin g place, with wide streets and good houses; but there are few build- ings of individual note except the church of San Pedro of the 15th century, the town house, the mansion of the Marquis Revilla-Gigedo, and the Asturian Institute. The last, which was founded in 1797 by Jovellanos, has a fine library, and comprises classes for navigation, mathematics, Latin, French, and English. Besides the works in connexion with the railways which run inland from Gijon to Miercs del Camino and Santa on the Nalon, there is a large glass work, an iron foundry, and a tobaCCo factory which alone gives employment to upwards of 1400 females. An extcn- sive trade is carried on in the export of coal, iron, jet, and hazel-nuts, and in the import of fish and colonial produce. The nuts amount to upwards of 1600 tons per annum, and a large proportion finds its way to the English market. Though the harbour is a mere roadstead between the small promontories of San Lorenzo and Torres, it is of (onsider- able value on such a coast as that of Asturias, especially as it has a good bottom. A quay was constructed by means of a grant from Charles V. in 1552–4, and a new one by Pedro Menendez in 1766—8, and an extension was effected in 1859 at a cost of £65,000. The population of Gijon in 1860 was 24,802. During the summer there is a considerable influx of strangers.
Gijon is usually identified with the Gigia of the Romans, which, however, occupied the site not of the present town but of the adjoining suburb of Cima da Villa. Captured and strengthened by the Moors, who used the stones of the Roman city for their fortifications, it remained in their hands till after the battle of Canieas, when its governor Munuza surrendered to Pclayo. In 844 it held out against an attack by the Normans, and In the following cen-
